On 21 February, General Hugo ‘Pollo’ Carvajal, Venezuela’s former head of military counterintelligence (2004-2011) and current national deputy for the ruling Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV), publicly denounced Nicolás Maduro for usurping the presidency and recognised the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, as the country’s legitimate interim president.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 21 February 2019

On 20 February the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a statement urging Colombia’s President Iván Duque to sanction into law the bill that fully enables the functioning of a transitional justice system (JEP) to handle cases related to Colombia’s internal armed conflict.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 20 February 2019

On 19 February, Venezuela’s de facto president, Nicolás Maduro, challenged the self-proclaimed and internationally recognised interim president, Juan Guaidó, to call a presidential election so that he can defeat him in the polls.

On 14 February, the foreign minister of the de facto Venezuelan government, Jorge Arreaza, announced that the administration led by Nicolás Maduro has the support of over a dozen countries that are prepared to denounce before the United Nations (UN) the attempts by the US to overthrow the Maduro administration.

On 13 February, opposition figures like Bolivia’s former president Carlos Mesa (2003-2005), a presidential candidate ahead of the October vote, along with civil-society groups, presented complaints before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) against President Evo Morales’ re-election bid.

On 12 February, tens of thousands of people took part in a protest march in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, called by the self-proclaimed and internationally recognised interim president Juan Guaidó, to demand that the de facto government led by Nicolás Maduro allow the entry into the country of international humanitarian aid and for Maduro to abandon power.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 12 February 2019

On 11 February, Venezuela’s defence minister, General Vladimir Padrino López, announced that additional armed forces personnel had been deployed to the country’s border with Colombia to ensure that the international humanitarian aid arranged by the self-proclaimed and internationally recognised interim president, Juan Guaidó, does not enter Venezuela.

On 7 February, the international contact group (ICG) on Venezuela held its first meeting in Uruguay’s capital, Montevideo, and called for a new dialogue and a fresh presidential election to try to solve the crisis in Venezuela.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 7 February 2019

On 6 February, the president of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled national assembly and self-proclaimed interim president, Juan Guaidó, ordered the country’s armed forces to allow the entry of foreign humanitarian aid into Venezuela.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 6 February 2019

On 5 February, Venezuelan opposition national deputy, Franklyn Duarte, claimed that members of Venezuela’s armed forces (FANB) were blocking the entry of international humanitarian aid packages into Venezuela at the Tienditas international bridge that connects Venezuela to Colombia.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 4 February 2019

On 3 February, Venezuela’s de facto president, Nicolás Maduro, publicly rejected the calls by the international community to resign or call a new presidential election insisting that he will not cave in to such pressure.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 31 January 2019

On 30 January, there were protests in more than 5,000 places across Venezuela, not just against the government led by President Nicolás Maduro but also to pressure the armed forces to permit a humanitarian corridor to allow essential aid into the country.

Development: On 24 January, Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for ‘Aureliano Carbonell’ (Víctor Orlando Cubides), one of the negotiators for the Colombian guerrilla group Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) in the suspended peace talks with the Colombian government in Cuba.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 24 January 2019

Development: On 23 January, Juan Guaidó, the president of Venezuela’s national assembly (AN), formally declared himself as the country’s interim president and said that he will now seek to organise a new general election process to elect a successor to the de facto president, Nicolás Maduro.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 23 January 2019

Development: On 22 January Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro ordered “a complete revision of relations with the US government” after US Vice President Mike Pence released a video branding him a dictator and extending support to Venezuelans the day before a large protest march called by the political opposition.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 22 January 2019

Development: On 21 January there were impromptu street protests in Venezuela in support of the actions of a group of officers from the Guardia Nacional Bolivariana (GNB) military police who had taken over a military barracks and declared themselves in rebellion against the de facto government led by Nicolás Maduro.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 21 January 2019

Development: On 21 January the Ejército de Liberación Nacional (ELN) insurgent guerrilla group assumed responsibility for the 17 January car bomb attack in Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, and justified the action on President Iván Duque’s refusal to resume the formal peace dialogue between his government and the ELN.

Development: On 16 January the audit commission in Peru’s national congress approved the opening of a new investigation into the links between C y M Vizcarra (CyM), a local consultancy firm founded by President Martín Vizcarra, and Brazilian engineering firm Odebrecht, which has admitted to paying millions of US dollars in bribes to government officials in Peru to secure government contracts.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 16 January 2019

Development: On 15 January, Venezuela’s national assembly (AN) approved a series of resolutions aimed at setting the legal bases for ousting the de facto Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela (PSUV) government led by Nicolás Maduro.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 14 January 2019

Development: On 13 January, Juan Guaidó, the president of Venezuela’s national assembly (AN), denounced that agents from the national intelligence service (Sebin) had illegally detained him for around half an hour in an attempt to silence him.

Development: On 10 January, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) issued a resolution stating that it does not recognise Nicolás Maduro as the legitimate president of Venezuela.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 10 January 2019

Development: On 9 January Venezuelan political opposition group Frente Amplio Venezuela Libre (FAVL) called for public demonstrations to be staged today (10 January) in repudiation of President Nicolás Maduro swearing-in for a second presidential term.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 7 January 2019

Development: On 5 January the newly elected president of Venezuela’s national assembly (AN), Juan Guaidó, said that if President Nicolás Maduro swears-in for a new six-year presidential term on 10 January he will be “usurping the presidency”.

LatinNews Regional Monitor: Andean Group - 3 January 2019

Development: On 2 January Venezuela’s foreign ministry issued a statement denouncing the “brazen” meddling by the US government in Venezuelan internal affairs and accused it of pressuring its regional neighbours to act against the government led by President Nicolás Maduro.